In the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, we read a fascinating story about Paul O’Neill, who became the CEO of the aluminium company Alcoa in 1987. Alcoa suffered from many fronts and bled from a thousand cuts.
Therefore, when O’Neill took over, he could have focused on increasing profits, but instead, he elected to start with one crazy thing: safety. He made safety his top priority. Improving safety, he believed, united everyone including the union and the company executives.
So he shocked investors at his first meeting with them; O’Neill didn’t talk about profits or market share. Instead, he talked about worker safety. He believed that if he could make Alcoa the safest company in the world, everything else would fall into place.
Before O’Neill became CEO in 1987, Alcoa was struggling. The company was facing intense competition from overseas manufacturers, and its profits were declining. Many of Alcoa’s factories were outdated, and the company was seen as slow-moving and resistant to change.
O’Neill was a surprising choice for CEO, as he had no background in aluminium or manufacturing. Instead, he came from the government, where he had served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan.
In that role, O’Neill had gained a reputation as a tough-minded manager who focused on data and results. He was known for asking tough questions and pushing for accountability, and he had a track record of turning around underperforming organizations.
When O’Neill arrived at Alcoa, he knew that he needed to make some big changes if the company was going to survive. He quickly realized that safety was a key issue for Alcoa, as the company had one of the worst safety records in the industry. Workers were getting injured on the job at an alarming rate, and morale was low.
By focusing on safety, he was able to get everyone in the company to buy into his vision, and to work together to make Alcoa a better, safer place to work.
O’Neill’s focus on safety was not just talking. He implemented several changes to make the workplace safer, including a program that required executives to report every workplace injury within 24 hours and to come up with a plan to prevent it from happening again.
At first, some investors were sceptical of O’Neill’s approach.
Over time, O’Neill’s emphasis on safety had a transformative effect on Alcoa. The company’s safety record improved dramatically, and its profits soared.
This story illustrates the power of focusing on a single, concrete goal to drive change throughout an organization. By prioritizing safety, O’Neill was able to improve Alcoa’s performance in all areas and create a lasting legacy of success.
I read this story sometime in 2008 while working on a master’s degree in psychology when one of my professors discovered I was as hooked on Gladwell as he was. We shared insights from the books and recommended new offerings from the author. This professor was the first person who did his PhD on followership instead of leadership, and I learned a lot from him.
So when I returned to Nigeria, my go-to advice for leaders was to first focus on one area upon which all stakeholders agree. Buhari should focus on one issue, I wrote in 2015, the way he and Idiagbon focused on War Against Indiscipline (WAI) as military leaders. Kwankwaso focused on scholarships in his second term (by first sending 501 students abroad) and he continues to benefit from the fruits of that investment until today.
When I had the opportunity to head a boarding secondary school in Abuja, we focused on one thing. Every academic programme revolves around it – extra lessons, class work, assessments and even motivational talks. We got the teachers and students to focus on retrieval practice and with the help of God, over 90% of our students graduated with distinctions.
So where should Bago start? He has already highlighted specific areas. He could start with one area in agriculture such as value addition. In that direction, he could build or facilitate the building of factories for rice, shea butter, millet, groundnuts, cashew nuts, spices and fruits.
But he could also start with the issue of thuggery. Everybody wants the end of that menace and Bago is the most suited person to do the job because while he accepts them as legitimate members of society, he also knows how to discipline them. Unlike the perception of some people that champions thuggery, those who know know that he’s actually their antidote.
When Gov Abu Lolo became Governor in 2015, he solved that problem almost immediately. We had peace. Yet, after a while, thugs started showing up periodically to wreak havoc.
The ban on thuggery should be total. It should include thugs who hang around public functions to shout praises or insults. It should include thugs and security agents who hang around the Government House and ministries greeting people who go in and begging anyone who comes out of meetings.
Their activities may seem benign and my recommendation may appear harsh but these people have largely contributed to our money politics.
In conclusion, whatever the Governor-elect chooses to start with, may Allah help him.
